In an incident that has sent shock waves among parents, a six-year-old Bengaluru boy allegedly lost his life owing to a medical negligence.
On Friday, April 21, parents of D Santosh, 6, rushed him to St John’s Hospital in Bengaluru. He was in a "comatose" state, and just as soon as they reached the hospital, he was declared brought dead.
The next day, a postmortem report shared with the parents proved that the six-year-old actually died of anaesthetic overdose. But how did it happen?
What led to Santosh's death?
It all started two months ago when Santosh complained of a limp in his throat that was causing breathing problems for him. Naturally, his parents D Nithyananda and M Maheshwari wanted it treated as soon as possible and took him to the Annayya Health Care in HSR Layout in Bengaluru.
It is in this hospital that Santosh was prescribed medicines. But they did not work and his lump continued to irritate him.
The family was then advised to have Santosh undergo an emergency 'routine' procedure to remove the lump. And after help from friends and relatives Nithyananda and Maheshwari collected a sum of Rs 40,000 and admitted Santosh for an emergency procedure.
However, what seemed like a minor surgery, soon turned into a disaster for the family when the family was kept in the dark about their son's status hours after the procedure. They were reportedly informed that the surgery was a "success" but were not allowed to see him. This et off alarm bells and they contact the HSR Layout Police.
“The police came to the hospital and after they questioned the doctors, they found that he was not waking up and his condition was extremely serious. The doctors told us that his pulse was very weak. I was calling out to my son and trying to wake him up but he was unconscious. There was no stretcher or even a lift for us to take our boy. I carried him down and in a few minutes, the police called an ambulance and we were on our way,” Santosh’s father, Nithyananda told a daily.
When they finally shifted the boy to another hospital, he was declared dead.
"They just murdered him"
They killed our boy. They just murdered him. We should have realised that something was wrong sooner. Especially when they did not let us see our son after the surgery. Maybe if I had realised it sooner, we could have taken him a little sooner to another hospital and be he would still be alive,” he shared.
The reportedly inconsolable father also added, “He was the only child in our family. My wife Maheshwari and I tried to conceive a child for six years after we got married. When we got the news that she was going to have a baby, everyone in our family was ecstatic. He was such a lovely boy. He loved going to school and was always drawing pictures. My house is filled with pictures he’s drawn. Now that’s all I have left of him. He was such a bright child. We are going to miss him forever.”
What happens now?
As of today, a criminal case has been filed against the hospital. DCP-South East M Boralingaiah told Times of India, "We have registered a criminal case and will investigate."
Sadly this is not the first time a case of death has been witnessed due to negligence in Annayya Health Care. In 2013, a boy who complained of toothache died of alleged cardiac arrest. He also overdosed on anesthesia.
This horrid case has once again highlighted the state of affairs of the medical fraternity in the country. It also makes it more important for parents to be extra cautious of medical care, especially when it comes to young children.
If you are wondering how to identify frivolous medical diagnosis and treatment, here are a few things to bear in mind.
3 things you must know when taking your kid to the private doctor
- Repeated tests or multiple tests: We all go through this ordeal once or twice in our lives and this is especially painful for parents who just want their kids to feel better quickly. Many private hospitals take naive parents on a ride and order multiple blood tests and scans. As a parent, you must question the relevance of all the tests and do a bit of research on your own.
- Take a second opinion: For parents, every little medical problem seems big when it comes to the kids. But be more mindful and practical and go for second opinion if you feel you're being taken for a ride. Consult with more than one doctor if your kid is not feeling better.
- Don't blindly obey the doctor's orders: Be aware and open to discussion with your doctor. If he isn't telling you all that you need to know, there is a problem and you must switch over to another doctor. The relationship between a doctor and a patient must always be transparent.
Read: Why all parents MUST know about Ghazal Yadav, the 7-year-old who died in school after a Karate session!
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